MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Frenchwoman who became a cause celebre in her country after she was jailed for kidnapping in Mexico is suing a former Mexican president, other ex-officials and a major TV network, her lawyer said Monday.

France’s president is wrapping up a two-day visit to Mexico, the first since the end of a five-year diplomatic standoff involving a young French woman jailed for kidnapping in Mexico. But relations are on the upswing, as the French president and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Peña Nieto prepare to sign around 30 contracts and agreements. A large slice of that pie will go to France’s aeronautical industry. Matthieu Comin and Laurence Cuvillier took a closer look.

The Mexican government is demanding that Sotheby’s auction house halt the planned sale of 51 pre-Columbian Mexican artifacts, arguing they are protected national historical pieces. The National Institute of Anthropology and History said Wednesday that Mexico has sent a diplomatic note to the French government seeking assistance in heading off the auction scheduled in Paris for Friday and Saturday.

It also implied that some of the artifacts offered in what is known as the 300-piece Barbier-Mueller Collection of Pre-Columbian Art are fakes or imitations.

In a surprising climax to a case that has strained Franco-Mexican relations for years, Mexico’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of Florence Cassez, a young French woman serving a 60-year sentence for her involvement with a Mexican kidnapping ring.

Cassez, 38, was arrested in 2005 along with her Mexican boyfriend, whom authorities said was the head of a kidnapping group called the Zodiacs. Although Cassez lived in a compound where victims were held, she maintained that she had committed no crimes.

Britain, France and Germany advised their nationals against non-vital travel to Mexico because of the swine flu outbreak. “We are now advising against all but essential travel to Mexico,” Britain’s Foreign Office said on its website late on Monday.

The French foreign ministry said it was strongly advising against going to Mexico without an “imperative reason,” and Germany’s foreign ministry Tuesday also advised against travelling to Mexico unnecessarily. The U.S. State Department earlier issued a similar notice.